| At present, the worldwide population aging shows a trend of accelerated development. According to statistics, the population aged 60 and above in China accounted 20% of the total population in 2008. China is already the most populous country in aging in the world, reaching 159million people, and is still growing rapidly. According to the study, the country's aging population is expected to break 200 million people by 2015. Such a huge number of aging populations will bring about social and economic pressure in China.An increase in the elderly and the chronically patient will raise the demand of the long-term care. The traditional care of the elderly and chronically patient is family care. However, in recent years, the traditional family structure developed from joint family to the immediate family, followed by a gradual evolution to the nuclear family, the traditional family care functions are being threatened. At the same time, this traditional model of home care costs high, benefits lower, will bring a heavy burden on the family. Change from a family-centered care to the community-centered care is the universal law of each country. Therefore, establishing large-scale, specialized long-term care centers, improving the quality of care for elderly and the chronically patient is an inevitable choice for countries in the future. Moreover, with the economic development and the increasing demand of long-term care, and now the costs of long-term care continue to rising, many families have been beyond the ability to pay. Therefore, from now on we must develop and improve the long-term care insurance system, in order to plan ahead.In this paper, the research object is the equilibrium between demand and supply of long-term care insurance, in the context of a multi-disciplinary research, insurance, economics, finance, sociology, population theory as the basic theoretical tool, using comparative analysis, qualitative analysis, quantitative analysis, theoretical analysis, empirical analysis, survey research methods, both in theory and practice, discussed the supply and demand equilibrium of long-term care insurance.From a practical perspective, there is a relationship between the healthy and rapid development of long-term care insurance and the supply and demand equilibrium of long-term care insurance. It is the key issues to carry out long-term care insurance in China. From the theoretical side, there is virtually no research about the supply and demand equilibrium of long-term care insurance in China, only a small number of articles research on demand or supply of long-term care insurance, or research on supply and demand equilibrium of health insurance. Therefore, the research in this paper has a strong theoretical significance.There are five chapters:1. Introduction. This chapter first points out the purpose and significance of this research. Second, examined a large amount of literatures, organized literature review and described the theoretical basis of this article. Finally, described the research ideas and research methods, pointed out the innovations of this article and shortcomings.2. Overview of long-term care insurance. This chapter first introduces that long-term care insurance resulting from the 1970s in the United States, the 1980s in Germany and France, the 1990s in the United Kingdom, has been developed over 30 years to the present. The second section describes the meaning of long-term care insurance. Finally clear the main contents of long-term care insurance, including its security in the form and the main features, and the long-term care insurance were classified according to three kinds of ways.3. Demand analysis of long-term care insurance. This chapter first points out the demand of long-term care insurance refers to at a certain level of rates, the number of long-term care insurance products the consumers from the insurance market willing and able to purchase. The level of protection of social medical insurance, long-term care insurance prices and socio-economic status, social patterns and family structure, risk probability, so many factors affect the demand of long-term care insurance. In contrast to developed countries' experience of the demand of long-term care insurance, pointed out the problems and causes of demand in China. Our existing medical insurance system has a negative effect on the demand of long-term care insurance; lack of affordability; social morphology has changed, but it is not easy to transform the traditional concept of the residents; adverse selection and moral hazard exist, these have an impact on the demand of our long-term care insurance.4. Supply analysis of long-term care insurance. This chapter first points out the meaning and characteristics of the supply of long-term care insurance, it is defined as at a specific period of time, under a certain premium rates of long-term care insurance, the number of long-term care insurance products that various insurance companies on the market willing and able to provide. The technical level of insurance companies provide long-term care insurance, long-term care insurance premium rates and the market environment, information asymmetry factors, so many factors affect the supply of long-term care insurance. In contrast to developed countries'experience of the supply of long-term care insurance, pointed out the problems and causes of supply in China. Technological backwardness, lack of professional personnel; information asymmetry between insured, insurance companies and health care institutions; serious risks to market environment; the lack of basis data, which are affecting the supply of our long-term care insurance.5. The equilibrium of supply and demand of long-term care insurance in China. This chapter begins by describing the equilibrium of supply and demand of long-term care insurance, on a certain premium rate of long-term care insurance, the supply is just equal to the demand, that the supply and demand reach equilibrium. Secondly, give some corresponding proposal to the demand and supply problems. Improve the existing medical insurance system, the product should be designed to meet different consumer, and strengthen elderly and their children's awareness on long-term care insurance, strengthen the risk awareness of young people to prevent adverse selection to expand the demand of long-term care insurance; cultivating professional talents, strengthen the information symmetry between insured, insurance companies and health care service providers, perfect market environment, improve the accuracy and reasonableness of rates of long-term care insurance to improve the supply. Established in loose external environment, made good product development strategy, set up standard medical care market order and risk management mechanism and finance-taxation policies, our long-term care insurance will realize the equilibrium of supply and demand gradually.Through the analysis and exploration above, this article made the following progress and innovation in the issue of supply and demand equilibrium of long-term care insurance:First of all, the topic of this article is in a new angle. Long-term care insurance is an emerging field in our insurance market, with the growing of aging population, long-term care insurance has gradually become the study object of insurance companies, insurance regulators as well as scholars and researchers. However, most paper focus on the necessary and possibility of the development of Chinese long-term care insurance. The analysis of supply and demand of long-term care insurance is very little. This paper focus on the demand and supply of long-term care insurance in China, use interdisciplinary approaches, included in the study of economics paradigm, combined with western economics, study the supply and demand of long-term care insurance. The research methods are a breakthrough in the limitations of the existing literature, extending the breadth of previous research on long-term care insurance.Secondly, the study on the equilibrium of supply and demand of long-term care insurance, the recommendations to achieve a balanced supply and demand, is another innovation of this article. This paper describes the demand and supply situation of long-term care insurance in developed countries with comparative analysis method, but because of different countries have different national conditions, imposed the long-term care insurance experience in supply and demand of other countries on our country is unrealistic and undesirable. So this article is close to Chinese reality, according to Chinese population and economic development, this paper made some recommendations on how to promote the balance between supply and demand of long-term care insurance in China. From the demand point of view:reform the existing medical insurance system in order to reduce the negative effects of social health insurance to long-term care insurance; design long-term care insurance products suitable for different consumers, both to expand the demand of long-term care insurance, and help to achieve the structure balance between supply and demand of long-term care insurance; strengthen elderly and their children's pension on long-term care insurance, and change the traditional concept of residents gradually; enhance young people's risk awareness, to prevent adverse selection. From the supply point of view:train professionals to improve our professional shortage and technological backwardness; strengthen the information symmetry between insured, insurance companies and health care service providers, to prevent the occurrence of moral hazard; improve the market environment to make a healthy and orderly market to long-term care insurance; improve the accuracy and reasonableness of the premium rate of long-term care insurance.Third, the supply-demand balance of long-term care insurance is inseparable from the corresponding supporting policies, this paper puts forward the refined supporting policies to achieve our long-term care insurance supply and demand balance. To establish an external environment that benefit for the development of long-term care insurance, enhance people's awareness to participate in long-term care insurance; to give long-term care insurance tax policy support; to plan a good long-term care insurance product development strategy for the insurance business; and finally, to establish a good medical market order and risk management mechanism. With the joint efforts on demand and supply, we will achieve the balance between supply and demand of long-term care insurance in our country gradually. |
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